First: Login To Your Account

You must be able to login to your account in order to change your alternate
email address.

"If you have lost access to your account, if it's been
hacked, if you've forgotten your password then it's too late."

If you have lost access to your account, if it's been hacked, if you've
forgotten your password then it's too late.

If that's the case you'll need to try to recover access to your account
before you can make any of the changes outlined here. In the case of Gmail that
means you'd start in their I
can't access my account troubleshooter.

Add An Alternate Email Address To Your Gmail Account

After you've logged in, Click on the Settings link in the
upper right:

Once in Settings, click on the Accounts and Import
link:

Near the bottom of the resulting page, click on Google Account
settings (your account is for much more that Gmail, hence it's your
Google account):

Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.